Dear Chelsea - Minisode: Pikachu vs. Kaslapus with Chelsea + Catherine

Episode Date: January 2, 2026

Chelsea and Catherine get an update from a caller who married his longtime love and assess a friend-zoning situation. * Need some advice from Chelsea? Email us at [e-mail] * Executive Producer Catherine Law Edited & Engineered by Brad Dickert * * * The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the Podcast author, or individuals participating in the Podcast, and do not represent the opinions of iHeartMedia or its employees.  This Podcast should not be used as medical advice, mental health advice, mental health counseling or therapy, or as imparting any health care recommendations at all.  Individuals are advised to seek independent medical, counseling advice and/or therapy from a competent health care professional with respect to any medical condition, mental health issues, health inquiry or matter, including matters discussed on this Podcast. Guests and listeners should not rely on matters discussed in the Podcast and shall not act or shall refrain from acting based on information contained in the Podcast without first seeking independent medical advice.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. She said, Johnny. The kids didn't come home last night. Along the Central Texas Plains, teens are dying. Suicides that don't make sense. Strange accidents and brutal murders. In what seems to be, a plot ripped straight out of Breaking Bad.

Drugs, alcohol, trafficking of people. There are people out there that absolutely know what happened. Listen to Paper Ghosts, the Texas Teen Murders, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know the shade is always Shadiest right here. Season 6 of the podcast Reasonably Shady with Jazele Bryan and Robin Dixon is here dropping every Monday. As two of the founding members of the Real Housewives Potomac were giving you all the laughs, drama, and reality news you can handle. And you know we don't hold back. so come be reasonable or shady with us each and every Monday.

Listen to Reasonably Shady from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome to Decoding Women's Health. I'm Dr. Elizabeth Pointer, chair of Women's Health and Gynecology at the Atria Health Institute in New York City. I'll be talking to top researchers and clinicians and bringing vital information about midlife women's health directly to you. 100% of women go through menopause.

Even if it's natural, why should we suffer through it? Listen to Decoding Women's Help with Dr. Elizabeth Pointer on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Danny Shapiro. We were in the car, like a Rolling Stone came on, and he said, there's a line in there about your mother. And I said, what? What I would do if I didn't feel like I was being accepted is choose an identity that other people can't have. I knew something had happened to me in the middle of the night, but I couldn't hold on to what had happened. These are just a few of the moving and important stories on my 13th season of Family Secrets.

Listen to Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Whether it is getting swatted or just hateful messages online, there is a lot of harm and even just reading the comments. That's cybersecurity expert Camille Stewart Gloucester on the Therapy for Black Girls podcast. Every season is a chance to grow, and the Therapy for Black Girls podcast is here to walk with you. I'm Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, and each week we dive into real conversations that help you move with more clarity and confidence. This episode, we're breaking down what really happens to your information online and how to protect yourself with intention. Listen to Therapy for Black Girls on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hello, Catherine.

Oh, hi, Chelsea. How are you? I'm feeling very deep-throated today. Yes. I kind of am, too. I don't know. Is it the weather? Maybe.

Maybe. I spoke to a little bit of a joint, so. Well, I have a really fun update. So I'm not sure if remember Witt from our John Lovett episode. He was getting serious with his girlfriend and wanted to propose, but wasn't sure about telling her family that he's trans. Oh, yes. I remember. Yes.

We loved Witt. And I think we did update that they got engaged and that was all very happy. So I got a very special email this week. This email is from Aaron. So Aaron says, hi, Chelsea. I couldn't help but think of you and the experience you shared with my son, Witt, when he appeared on the Dear Chelsea podcast last year. This is Witt's mom.

I've been a longtime listener of Chelsea's podcasts and have enjoyed her episodes on Netflix and YouTube for years. Witt and I even binge-watched some of them together when I visited him in Montreal. So I was thrilled when Catherine arranged for Witt to be on the show and have the chance to ask Chelsea and John questions about his dating relationship. Shortly after the episode aired, Witt proposed to Anne. She said yes. The heart of the episode was about whether Witt should tell Anne's parents that he's trans before they got engaged. Chelsea and John suggested it really shouldn't matter either way. As it turns out, Anne's parents are incredible people. They were extremely understanding and expressed that they were honored Witt and Ann shared that part of their story with them.

They emphasized that it didn't change how they felt. It simply didn't matter to them in the best way. Witt's experience on Dear Chelsea gave him confidence and validation beyond what I could have imagined. The respect and dignity Chelsea and John brought to the conversation through their openness, inclusion, and compassion was truly refreshing. As Witt's mom, I want to say how much I appreciate all of you. Today, I'm flying to Montreal for Witten Anne's wedding, and I felt it was the perfect time to reach out and express my gratitude for the kindness you showed, warmly Aaron. Oh, my God. I know. Wow.

I know. It's just like so lovely. Keeping families together. That's what we're doing. Keeping families. I mean, to get a thank you letter from someone's mother is like the best gift ever. I know. It's so delightful. So thank you so much for writing in Aaron.

And by the way, what a beautiful model and blueprint for anyone's who is dealing with anyone, you know, the way that this couple reacted to finding out that their new son-in-law is trans, is, so beautiful. Like, it has absolutely no impact on them. And then they thanked him for sharing something so personal. That is how we treat people. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And for Aaron to be, obviously, this

woman who has a child who maybe things went a little differently than expected as Witt grew up, but guess what? Aaron loves Witt and, you know, is accepting, and these families have come together. It's just beautiful. It's beautiful. This is the way the world should be going around. Everyone should be accepting

of everybody. Yes. Yes. Regardless of what, anything, you should be able to accept and look at everybody as a human being. Yeah. I'm investigative journalist Melissa Jeltson. My new podcast, What Happened in Nashville, tells the story of an IVF clinic's catastrophic collapse and the patients who banded together in the chaos that followed. We have some breaking news to tell you about. Tennessee's attorney general is suing a Nashville doctor.

In April 2024, a fertility clinic in Nashville shut down overnight and trapped behind locked doors were more than a thousand frozen embryos. I was terrified. Out of all of our journey, that was the worst moment ever. At that point, it didn't occur to me what fight was going to come to follow. But this story isn't just about a few families' futures. It's about whether the promise of modern fertility care can be trusted at all. It doesn't matter how much I fight, doesn't matter how much I cry over all of this.

It doesn't matter how much justice we get. None of it's going to get me pregnant. Listen to what happened in Nashville on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The moments that shape us often begin with a simple question. What do I want my life to look like now? I'm Dr. Joy Harden Bradford. And on therapy for black girls, we create space for honest conversations. about identity, relationships, mental health, and the choices that help us grow.

As cybersecurity expert, Camille Stewart Gloucester reminds us, we are in a divisive time where our comments are weaponized against us. And so what we find is a lot of black women are standing up and speaking out because they feel the brunt of the pain. Each week, we explore the tools and insights that help you move with purpose. Whether you're navigating something new or returning to your, yourself. If you're ready for thoughtful guidance and grounded support, this is the place for you. Listen to Therapy for Black Girls on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get

your podcast. Hey, I'm Kelly, and some of you may know me as Laura Winslow. And I'm Telma, also known as Aunt Rachel. If those names ring a bell, then you probably are familiar with the show that we were both on back in the 90s called Family Matters. Kelly and I have done a lot of things and played a lot of roles over the years. But both of us are just so proud to have been part of Family Matters. Did you know that we were one of the longest running sitcoms

with the black cast? When we were making the show, there were so many moments filled the joy and laughter and cut up that I will never forget. Oh, girl, you got that right. The look that you all give me is so black. All black people know about the look. On each episode of Welcome to the Family,

we'll share personal reflections about making the show. Yeah, we'll even bring in part of the cast and some other special guests to join in the fun and spill some tea. Listen to Welcome to the Family with Telma and Kelly on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Like, if we're on the air here and I literally have my contract here, and I'm looking at, you know, as soon as I sign this, I'm going to get a seven-figure check. I've told them I won't be working here in two weeks. From the underground clubs that shaped global music to the pastors and creatives who built The Cultural Empire. The Atlanta Ears podcast uncovers the stories behind one of the most influential cities in the world.

The thing I love about Atlanta is that it's a city of hustlers, man. Each episode explores a different chapter of Atlanta's rise, featuring conversations with ludicrous, Will Packer, Pastor Jamal Bryant, DJ Drama, and more. The full series is available to listen to now. I really just had never experienced anything like what was going on in the city as far as, like, you know, seeing so many young, black, affluent, creatives in all walks of life. The church had dwindled almost to nothing, and God said this is your assignment. And that's like how you know, like, okay, oh, you're from Atlanta for real.

I ain't got to say too much. I'm a Grady, baby. Shut up. Listen to Atlanta is on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The social media trend that's landing some Gen Zers in jail. The progressive media darling who's. public meltdown got her fired. I'm going to take Francesco off the network entirely.

The massive TikTok boycott against Target that makes no actual sense. I will continue getting stuff from Target, and I will continue to not pay for it. And the MAGA influencers, whose trip to the White House ended in embarrassment. So refreshing to have the press secretary after the last few years who's both intelligent and articulation. You won't hear about these online stories in the mainstream media, but you can keep up with them and all the other entertaining and outrageous things happening online in media and in politics with the Brad versus Everyone podcast, hosted by me, Brad Palumbo.

Every day of the week, I bring you on a wild ride through the most delulu takes on the internet, criticizing the extremes of both sides from an independent perspective. Join in on the insanity and listen to the Brad versus Everyone podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Well, Ricky says, dear Chelsea, I've been a fan of Chelsea since the Chelsea lately days. My sister and I would chat, recapping your hilarious shows often, and we saw you live in New York many years ago. Anyway, I recently came across your podcast and have been listening and loving hearing the humor that I always enjoyed with my sister. Anyway, I don't need advice, but I have a ridiculous question.

Pikachu versus Caslopas. Why do you sometimes say one versus the other? Different words say meaning, or is there more of a distinction? Just stupidly curious. Thanks, Ricky. Great question. I love it. Pikachu is just a softer way to say.

I feel like Caslopas sounds like sloppy C. bath. Like, it sounds like fish. You know what I mean? Caslopis is like... Yes. Caslapus is the dirty wine. Pikachu is like, oh, you have a cute little vagina. You know, that's a nice way to say vagina. It's the nicest way to say

vagina. Vagina's a terrible word. It's the worst. It's not good. And so Pikachu, I don't like the word pussy. I mean, I like calling men pussies, but I don't like saying, you know, come lick my pussy. No one says that. So gross. Should we name this minisode?

Come look my... I know. I can't even repeat that. I'm going to have to use too many asterisk if we do that. Yeah, in our family, it's Tootie, but it wasn't when I was growing up. That came from, like, my sister's college friend, but now we call it a Tootie. But a Tootie is a fart also, like a toot, you know, in some families. Yeah, I suppose it could be. In my family growing up, my parents called it Your Body, which is very confusing. Like, that is absolutely the wrong.

They would say, like, call that your body. Oh, well, make sure to wash your body when you're in the shower. No, it doesn't work. No, I like Beaver also. But that's not for, you know, I mean. Everyday consumption. It depends. I mean, I guess for me it is.

I can pretty much say, I mean, there's nothing wrong with Beaver, but actually make a note to myself to start using Beaver more often. Well, our caller today is Liz. She says, Dear Chelsea, about six months ago, I broke up with my first long-term boyfriend. He was not good for me, and it took me a while to realize it. The relationship ultimately ended because he wanted me to convert to Catholicism, but truly he wanted my leftism politics to more align with his right-wing tendencies. looking back, I can now see his behavior was controlling and somewhat abusive at times.

He was the classic love bomber that withdrew whenever he couldn't get control of me in some way. There were times I'd call him out for attempting to gaslight, verbally intimidate, and physically control me. He would always become super defensive and try to put the blame on my mental state rather than take responsibility for these things. Needless to say, after getting out of that relationship, I've been in somewhat of an apathetic state about men since the breakup. I want nothing to do with any characteristic of my ex, so I've been mostly going out with guys. knowing that it will lead nowhere. Well, I met a really sweet guy on the dating apps. He seems the complete opposite of my ex.

We're politically aligned, share a ton of interests, and he puts in a ton of effort. The problem is, I'm not that attracted to him. I totally want to be, but I've given it a few months and still feel no attraction to him. My question is, am I just continuing my patterns of falling for unhealthy relationships due to my insecure, anxious attachment style? On paper, this new guy has everything I should be looking for, but I can't help of feeling there's a lot of the chemistry missing. This leaves me thinking about the chemistry I had with my ex. I know that relationship wasn't healthy, but why did we look back with blinders

feeling like that was the relationship that had something when the new guy on paper looks so perfect? Do you think I should give up on this new guy and keep looking for someone I'm more attracted to? I'm a little scared that my little self, quote unquote, is calling the shots, and the reason I'm not feeling the attraction is because I'm still drawn to the avoidant controlling person, Liz. Hi, Liz. Hello, Chelsea. Hi. okay so first of all i think you're doing this is great there's so many people that call in and they don't even know how to begin the process of dating and i'm so glad that you're already doing it and you understand what you're that you're avoidant anxious or anxious avoidant is that what yeah you said

okay anxious avoidant that you got away from that ex-boyfriend that's over what you're realizing is that you don't have chemistry with this new guy that's okay you don't have any chemistry with him then then that's it there's nothing happening there but don't confuse the chemistry you had with guy as a sign that you should be with that guy, you just know what chemistry feels like and what a good guy feels like. So you have identified all of the things that you want in your romantic relationship. You want somebody who's reliable, who's good on paper, who's going to be honest, who's going to be thoughtful and caring and not manipulating and not controlling. And you also want to have chemistry. That's great. That's a victory. You know exactly what you want and you're

going to find it. And it's just a numbers game. And don't stay with some guy that. that you're not attracted to. There's nothing you could do about that. You've given it a couple months. If it were three weeks, I'd say give it a couple months. But you've given it a couple months. You've tried. You're not attracted to him.

You don't have to be attracted to everybody. I wish I could be attracted to more people. Do you know what I mean? I'm sure you feel the same way. I'm like, oh, God, I wish I could be attracted to you. You seem easy. But we've identified all of the things that you're looking for in a relationship. You're winning.

You are winning. You are on your way to finding somebody. Just stick with it. and just know in your heart what you're going to settle for. You're not going to go back to a guy that's controlling or domineering in any way and you're not going to settle for somebody

that isn't exactly what you're looking for. Yes. I knew you would say something just like this, Chelsea, but I was making sure that I wasn't, you know, just writing off this new guy because I'm looking for something else. But no, I think I know I just needed to hear it, I guess. Yeah, and listen, if you,

it with this guy, and in a couple months, you're still thinking about him, then guess what? Then you can go back and go, God, wow, I made a mistake. Sure. Yeah. So, yeah, just trust yourself. Really trust yourself and listen to yourself. You're identifying all of the things that are important to you in a relationship. And that's, you're ahead of the game.

Yeah. And I think, like, teasing apart this idea of having chemistry with someone from what you had with your ex, which was not just chemistry. I'm sure you had that too. But what he also gave you were these like adrenaline hits and dopamine hits of I never know what's coming next. Like when you have those arguments with people and they have your nervous system all out of whack, you are getting rushes of adrenaline every single time that happens. So that can also be very addicting. And that's a different thing than just like having chemistry with someone.

At the same time, if you don't have chemistry with this new guy, you don't have chemistry. It's friend zone, right? But at the same time, you may find dating someone who's like. like this guy that you do have chemistry with and you find yourself like, is this person too boring for me? That I think is the thing you want to maybe give a little more time to if you find yourself feeling that because you're not getting those dopamine and adrenaline hits of just like surges of hormones, right? And sometimes like the steady eddies at the beginning can be like, is this boring or is this just kind of fine? So maybe give yourself a little more time if you find

yourself in one of those. But that's what you're aiming for, right? Somebody who's, who's not constantly a roller coaster. Sure. Yeah, that makes sense. A lot of sense. Okay, Liz, you have some friends owning to do. Okay. I got it.

Got it. I'm on it. Bye, Liz. Thanks for going. Thank you so much. I just announced all my tour dates. It's called the High and Mighty Tour. I will be touring from February through June.

So go get your tickets now. If you want to come see me perform, I will be on the High and Mighty Tour. Do you want advice from Chelsea, write into Dear Chelsea Podcast at gmail.com. Find full video episodes of Dear Chelsea on YouTube by searching at Dear Chelsea Pod. Dear Chelsea is edited and engineered by Brad Dickert, executive producer, Catherine Law. And be sure to check out our merch at chelsea handler.com. And she said, Johnny, the kids didn't come home last night. Along the central Texas plains, teens are.

are dying, suicides that don't make sense, strange accidents, and brutal murders. In what seems to be, a plot ripped straight out of Breaking Bad. Drugs, alcohol, trafficking of people. There are people out there that absolutely know what happened. Listen to paper ghosts, the Texas teen murders on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Decoding Women's Health. I'm Dr. Elizabeth Pointer, chair of women's health and gynecology at the Atria Health Institute in New York City. I'll be talking to top researchers and clinicians and bringing vital information about midlife women's health directly to you.

A hundred percent of women go through menopause. Even if it's natural, why should we suffer through it? Listen to Decoding Women's Health with Dr. Elizabeth Pointer on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know the shade is always Shadiest right here. Season 6 of the podcast Reasonably Shady with Giselle Bryan and Robin Dixon is here dropping every Monday. As two of the founding members of the Real Housewives Potomac were giving you all the laughs, drama, and reality news you can handle. And you know we don't hold back. So come be reasonable or shady with us each and every Monday.

Listen to Reasonably Shady from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Reardon. Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hi, I'm Danny Shapiro. We were in the car, like a Rolling Stone came on, and he said, there's a line in there about your mother. And I said, what? What I would do if I didn't feel like I was being accepted is choose an identity that other people can't have.

I knew something had happened to me in the middle of the night, but I couldn't hold on to what had happened. These are just a few of the moving and important stories on my 13th season. of Family Secrets. Listen to Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Whether it is getting swatted or just hateful messages online, there is a lot of harm and even just reading the comments. That's cybersecurity expert Camille Stewart Gloucester on the Therapy for Black Girls podcast. Every season is a chance to grow. And the Therapy for Black Girls podcast is here to walk with you. I'm Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, and each week we dive into real

conversations that help you move with more clarity and confidence. This episode, we're breaking down what really happens to your information online and how to protect yourself with intention. Listen to Therapy for Black Girls on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.